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St. Lawrence was named by a group of shipwrecked sailors who came to the Newfoundland in 1583 with Sir Humphrey Gilbert. During the expedition, their vessel, Delight, sank off Sable Island. Sixteen of her crew drifted in a lifeboat for seven days before coming ashore on the South Coast in Little St. Lawrence. Richard Clarke, the master of the doomed ship, wrote a dramatic account of the event in 1584.[3]

The area was known to English, French, and Basque fishermen in the 1500s and there were a few French stages at St Lawrence itself, for the early French ship fishermen for the fishing season.[4] However, settlement actually began in the early to mid-1700's.[5] Captain James Cook surveyed the St. Lawrence area and vicinity in 1765. St. Lawrence was a hive of activity in 1784 when Newmans opened its store in Little St. Lawrence and business was soon rivalling that of St. John's (the capital city).[6] Newmans closed its Little St. Lawrence store in 1811.

Fishing was the main economic activity of the area for hundreds of years due to the proximity of St. Lawrence with the Grand Banks. A tsunami devastated the area following the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake; 27 people lost their lives, and many along the coast lost their houses, boats, stages and supplies. This added greatly to the hardship already inflicted by the Great Depression and the collapse of the saltfish trade.

Fluorspar deposits had been noted as early as 1843 but it was not until 1933 that mining began. The fluorspar mine in St. Lawrence was a major employer in the community until 1978, when the mine was closed by Alcan. In 2011 Canada Fluorspar Inc. outlined preparations to open a fluorspar mine on the site of the old mine. As of 2016 the project has still not commenced.

On February 18, 1942, more than 200 American sailors died when the USS Truxton ran aground near Chambers Cove and the USS Pollux[7] ran aground at Lawn Point. Tremendous community efforts and personal bravery by the citizens of Lawn and St. Lawrence reduced the high death toll. In 1954 the U.S. Navy built a hospital at St. Lawrence in gratitude for their work.[8]

In 1992, a memorial entitled 'Echoes of Valour' was erected in dedication of the mining industry in St. Lawrence, the sailors who died in the USS Truxtun and USS Pollux disaster, and those who lost their lives in the World Wars.[9]

St. Lawrence has a K-12 School, St. Lawrence Academy. The school was initially the high school for the town "St. Lawrence Central High School". With dwindling enrollment in the 1990s the school was renamed St. Lawrence Academy and encompassed K-6 upon the closure of Marion Elementary in 1999.

St. Lawrence has been referred to as the 'Soccer Capital of Canada'.[10] St. Lawrence Centennial Soccer Field has been listed on the Historic Places in Canada since 2005.[11]

The St. Lawrence soccer teams have been a powerhouse of soccer both on the Burin Peninsula where they have dominated. As well at the provincial level success has also been achieved culminating in the Laurentians being named the "Team of the Decade" for the 70's and 90's.

St. Lawrence has a subarctic climate, albeit an ocean moderated one giving it more of a continental maritime climate than one like that of Fairbanks, Alaska. The seasonal lag rivals that of the Pacific coast in California, with August being the warmest month and September and July having very similar temperatures. The coldest month is February. Summer lasts from mid-July through mid-September and winter lasts from late November through early May.

Climate data for St. Lawrence Canadian Climate Normals 1971-2000 Station Data

^"In the Parliamentary Report of 1718 it is stated that nearly all the Poole vessels engaged in the Newfoundland trade were built in the Colony. Spurriers built barques, brigs,and ships at Oderin, Burin, and St. Lawrence". D.H. Prowse. p165.

^K. Matthews, Robert Newman, in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed January 25, 2017

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it is composed of the insular region of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador to the northwest, with a combined area of 405,212 square kilometres (156,500 sq mi). In 2018, the province's population was estimated at 525,073. About 92% of the province's population lives on the island of Newfoundland, of whom more than half live on the Avalon Peninsula.

Random—Burin—St. George's

Random—Burin—St. George's was a federal electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015.

List of census divisions of Newfoundland and Labrador

The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador is divided into 11 Census divisions which are numbered 1 through 11.

Lawn, Newfoundland and Labrador

Lawn, population approximately 670 as of 2011, is located at the tip of the Burin Peninsula on Newfoundland's South coast, Newfoundland and Labrador. Lawn is spread around a small harbour in a relatively lush valley. According to one local tradition it was this lushness that inspired Captain James Cook to name the place Lawn Harbour. But it has also been speculated that a Frenchman named the community after a doe caribou that he spotted there.

Conception Bay South

Conception Bay South is a town located on the southern shore of Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is commonly called C.B.S.

Marystown

Marystown is a town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 5,506 as of 2011. Situated 306 km from the province's capital, St. John's, it is on the Burin Peninsula. Until the early 1990s, its economy was largely based on shipbuilding, and it is due in part to this that the town experienced a population increase of 295% in just over a decade. The town was also dependent on the fish plant for employment.

Grand Bank

Grand Bank, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada or 'Grand Banc' as the first French settlers pronounced it, is a small rural town with a population of 2,580. It is located on the southern tip or "toe" of the Burin Peninsula, 360 km from the province's capital of St. John's.

Grand Bank (electoral district)

Grand Bank is a defunct provincial electoral district for the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to the 1974 redistribution, the district was called Burin. The district was abolished in 2015 and replaced by Burin-Grand Bank.

Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador

Torbay is a town located on the eastern side of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Burin Peninsula

The Burin Peninsula is a peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

USS Pollux (AKS-2)

Burin, Newfoundland and Labrador

Burin is a town on the Burin Peninsula in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Burin Peninsula is often affectionately nicknamed "The Boot" due to its resemblance to the footwear when seen on a map, with the town of Burin located near the "heel". Burin is approximately 318 km from the capital of St. John's. Settlement in Burin dates to the early 18th century, although documentary evidence indicates that French fishermen had been fishing and exploring the area even earlier.

Terrenceville

Terrenceville is a small town located on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, south west of Swift Current.